Women for Women International
A favorite of Red Room authors Pat Montandon, Aimee Liu, Jessica Barksdale Inclán, Karen Misuraca, Mary Akers, Laura Barcella, Linda C. Wisniewski, Jessica Queller, Laraine Herring, and Samina Ali, and Red Room founder and CEO Ivory Madison.
Name of founder: Zainab Salbi.
Year founded: 1996
Mission: Women for Women International supports women in war-torn regions with financial and emotional aid, job-skills training, rights education, and small-business assistance so they can rebuild their lives.
Accomplishments:
· Registered more than 23,000 sponsors in all U.S. states and fifty-five countries
· Distributed more than $33 million in direct aids and loans to more than 120,000 women survivors of war in countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Sudan.
Women for Women International helps women advance first from being victims to attaining stability as survivors, and then to becoming active citizens in their communities. From helping Nigerian women to organize themselves to end oppressive widowhood practices and female genital cutting in their communities to helping almost 10,000 Bosnian women to move toward economic self-sufficiency through a microcredit program, Women for Women International helps women to make incremental yet sweeping changes in their communities and countries.
To get involved, call (202)737-7705 or email general@womenforwomen.org, or go to Women for Women International's website's Make A Difference page.
–Huntington W. Sharp, Editor, Homepage & Special Projects, Red Room
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